I've always been fascinated by nicknames. Last names, shortened first names, titles, names that have something to do with a person's history, names that seem to have nothing to do with anything...I'm always interested to know the history behind nicknames.
What I find really interesting, though, is which people choose to call you by a nickname and in what situations. Guys and sports teams are a great example. Dudes always have great nicknames for other dudes. Like one I heard this weekend: Sudsy. Who wouldn't want to know the story behind a dude named Sudsy?
But even rather bland nicknames change with people and circumstances. I always introduce myself as Jenny, but some people just seem compelled to call me either Jen or Jennifer. I was in a meeting today and within 30 seconds of introducing myself as Jenny the guy sitting next to me called me Jen. He then continued to call me Jen for the next 1.5 hours, even though everyone else in the room called me Jenny.
On the other hand, we're working with a contractor that keeps calling me Jennifer even though every time I answer the phone I say, "Hello, this is Jenny." I don't really mind the difference, I just think it's really interesting that some people opt for the more familiar or more formal over what was initially given.
Since I always introduce myself the same way, it would seem that the version people choose to use says more about them than me. Now I know Jenny vs. Jen isn't exactly exciting, but what does that say about a name like Sudsy? As any dork in any teen movie knows, you can't give yourself a cool nickname. Nicknames that stick seem to embody a person's personality, but someone else gave it to them. So does the personality come first or the nickname?
Other than the occasional "Jen" I don't have any cool nicknames, which is maybe why I find this so interesting. I have never bestowed a great, creative nickname either. Which leads me to the crux of this post: what nickname do we give Harper? I feel like this is as important a decision as choosing the name in the first place (and my only hesitation with Harper was, "What will her nickname be?").
So far we haven't come up with anything that's stuck. Joe experiments with options sometimes ("Let's go for a walk, H" or "Do you want a snack, Harps?") but for the most part it's the whole name or something she definitely won't want for the rest of her life, like The Girl, Baby, or Peewee. Maybe she doesn't need a nickname since Harper isn't that long, or maybe we just hope that the first time she joins a sports team there's someone with a creative, kind mind who comes up with a great nickname her lame parents can use, too.
Then again, with a last name like Beer, maybe she's good to go.
I didn't have my first nickname until college, when I became LJ simply because our email addresses followed the convention of first initial + middle initial + last name. I had never used my middle initial for anything before (not really) but came to find out that many of my new college friends also had middle names that started with J. To this day we still call each other VJ, KJ, etc. I have no idea what Shelby's nickname might be. Guess we'll find out in time!
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